Hi! Sethina has asked me to write for Mom MD and join its newly formed advisory panel. I'm surprised and, well, honored. We call each other of the phone and talk like old friends. We're also business-like when need be, with e-mails and phone calls to work out some details. Maybe write a journal about your experiences, editorials, or tips and advice, she says. Advice!? I'm old enough to realize just how much I don't know, (which my husband tells me is a definition of the word: "wisdom"). I'm sure I don't know anything that will get you into medical school, nothing magical anyway. Yes, study hard, be curious, listen carefully, and learn. Practice MCATs, etc. It's pretty much the usual prescription for getting into med school.

Here's my more unusual Rx: do something 'non-premedical' everyday for yourself: breathe deeply, notice the glow of sunlight on your children's hair, and enjoy as much as you can. Take care of yourself and your relationships. None of this guarantees admission to med school either, but you'll feel better! "Heal thyself" as much as possible before med school.

My musings about motherhood and medicine? Hmmm... both mothers and doctors have been romanticized and blamed for all sorts of things, some of which they are not at fault for. Both mothering and doctoring make huge demands of our time and energy. Both can reward and satisfy; the children 'grow into their own'; the patient heals. Neither job is glamorous because there aren't any, but it's an intimate, profound privilege to know the child or the patient, to be a mother or a doctor. Or both! Becoming someone's mother felt like a very personal promotion of sorts; becoming a doctor would be a more professional one.

So Sethina has handed me an opportunity to clarify what I think and feel about things that seem pertinent to pre-meds here. And you're free to disagree with me. It's 'my page', yet you're here too if you're preparing for med school. Some others and I will write our thoughts and experiences on such pages. For my part, I'll also recommend books and other resources that have helped me along and maybe it will feed the mommd e-mail discussions.

I wish you well! ----- Mary Bois-Byrne

P.S. A quote for you: